This Halloween take a thought-provoking journey with Lonely Planet's Guide to Death, Grief, and Rebirth!  The global travel expert has for the first time delved into the delicate and often taboo subject of death, in this unique and inspiring new title which examines how different communities and cultures around the world deal with loss, exploring the world's most profound rituals and celebrations. 

Halloween's origins come from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when on November's Eve, many believed the veil between the living and the dead thins (due to the night lying between one year and the next) and the spirits of the dead returned to the world. Across Scotland, Ireland and Wales children would dress in costumes to blend in with any wandering spirits and light bonfires to ward off any evil spirits.  

Lonely Planet's Guide to Death, Grief, and Rebirth takes an uplifting look at 35 life-affirming traditions split into four key chapters: Celebrating, Commemorating, Mourning, and Offering. Discover celebrations of life, resting places, unusual burial rituals, and symbols which have been associated with death throughout time. From the Irish Wake – a refuge of emotions where whiskey flows, songs are sung and raucous games provide catharsis for a community united in grief ( a new dedicated museum has recently opened in Waterford Irish Wake Museum | Waterford Treasures). To festivals honouring ancestors, that are as much about emotional bonding and support in the here-and-now as they are an occasion for remembering the departed. Including Mexico's colourful Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), the jokes and jollity of Gai Jatra in Nepal or Sulawesi's Ma'Nene festival, in which departed loved ones are ritually exhumed to take part in the fun.  In Japan, India and China mass worship festivals are among the biggest of the year, creating mass movements of people as families gather from far and wide to observe them, calling on the ancestors for blessings.

Lonely Planet's Guide to Death, Grief, and Rebirth weaves together stories that transcend fear, instead embracing the beauty of mortality, loss, and regeneration.

If you would like to review a copy, just let us know.

Author Anita Isalska is also available for interview to delve into the inspiration and detail of the book.